


Brownstone

by tscSNK (tsc)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-28 02:36:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5074093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsc/pseuds/tscSNK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve roommates.  Sex shops, lingerie, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Singing at bars, parties, and blackmail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Everyone

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you may have read the first draft of this fic when I first posted it months and months ago (like March, MONTHS ago). I've since deleted it and rewritten it to something that makes a bit more sense, because this au itself is so large and continues to grow -- in fact its named both the clusterfuck au and the monster fic. If you only knew what I had going through my brain...

Eren was laying on his bed with his laptop beside him, the sounds of new messages popping up every few seconds. He groaned quietly before rolling onto his stomach, reading over what had been sent to him.

 

> **Jeanbo** : I know ur there eren answer the call
> 
> **Jeanbo:** marco and I wanna talk to you
> 
> **Jeanbo:** its important

Eren scratched the back of his head as he watched the screen turn to video, his camera turning on with the green light beaming back at him. He accepted the call and soon enough, Jean was staring back at him.  And he couldn’t stop the grin that took over his face.

“Why weren’t you responding?”  Cried Jean as soon as the video was up on his end. He was sitting at the desk in their bedroom, from what Eren could see, and Marco slinked in and out of view behind him, tugging shirts on and off. Eren then recalled that Marco had an interview that afternoon.

Eren shifted on the bed slightly, causing the camera on the laptop to bounce around.  “Sorry, I was too comfortable to move my arms.”  He said, pushing himself up to sit properly, back against the pillows on his bed. He reached forward and pulled the laptop up to sit on his bent knees,  “What did you want to talk about?”

Jean stayed quiet as Marco spoke behind him, inaudible on Eren’s end.  The brunet frowned as the two on the other side of the video feed continued to talk, before Jean finally stood and picked up the laptop.  Eren watched as the video changed, and he could tell that the boy was bringing the laptop to the bed as well.  He waited for a few more moments before the screen showed Jean and Marco sitting side by side against the wall.

Sighing quietly, Eren let his head rest on the wall behind him. “What did you want to talk about?” he repeated, which caused Marco and Jean to focus on their topic.

“Right!” Jean said, turning to Marco.

“How’s the packing coming along?”  Marco asked.

Eren looked past his laptop at the boxes scattered around his room and shrugged.  “I think I am more or less done for now, until actual moving day.  It’s going to be strange to be moving out of this house.”

“It’s the best for Armin’s granddad though.” Marco said, but he was unable to keep the smile off his face.  “We are all moving rooms tomorrow, before you three come on Saturday morning. We’re gonna try and get everything done before Reiner leaves for work.  The heavy stuff, that is.”

Eren laughed quietly and nodded.  “Good call.  And the conversations with Krista and Ymir, and Connie and Sasha went alright I take it?”

Marco looked over to Jean at that, who was making a face.

“Krista and Ymir were fine with it.  More Krista, than anything, since Ymir kind of just goes with whatever Krista says, you know.  But considering she owns the house, she can make decisions like that all she wants. It was actually partially her idea when we had mentioned you three still hadn’t found a place to go that was reasonably priced…” Jean explained, rubbing his chin with the hand that wasn’t in Marco’s lap.

“Connie actually had the most to bitch about, even though he has like five whole things in the entire house and Sasha was more than happy to move downstairs, with the deal that she could share Ymir and Krista’s ensuite on the second floor.”  Marco continued, laughing quietly.  “It shut him up really quick when we actually pointed out the fact he only had five things.”

“Reiner and Bertholdt lucked out in that they don’t actually have to move rooms.”  Jean said offhandedly before Marco continued.

“Annie is so looking forward to moving upstairs.  It’s more or less the same as the room she has now, just with some extra closet room.”

“Ah, they’re going to have to fight each other for the space.  It’s going to be interesting,Armin has a shit ton of clothes. That guy has so many, I don’t even understand.”  Eren grinned as he spoke, remembering the stack of boxes in front of Armin’s closet, taller than both of them, all full of clothes.  Separated by season, no less.  “Don’t even get me started on Mikasa’s clothing.”

“And then we’ll be up in Connie and Sasha’s room.  We don’t get the nice bay window but—“ Marco was then cut off by Jean.

“We won’t have to worry about big windows that people can see in and witness us fuck—“

“ _Jean!_ ” The freckled face boy cried, his cheeks immediately turning red.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Eren added after a moment with a devilish smirk growing on his face.

“Eren!”

“See, Eren knows what I’m talking about.”  Jean said, grinning wildly.

Marco sighed in defeat, letting his head fall forward.  “Now you two are going to talk dirty to each other, while I’m going to have to leave since my interview is in less than an hour.  And I cannot participate.”

“You still could participate.” Eren said, leaning forward slightly. “It might be painful though, meeting your future boss with a raging hard on.”

“Oh my god, Eren.”

Eren watched as Jean leaned over and whispered into Marco’s ear, his hand moving a little in the other boy’s lap before the Marco jumped back and off of the bed, sending Jean onto his side and the laptop falling to point the camera at the ceiling. Eren could hear laughter on Jean’s end, and huffing and puffing on Marco’s end.  He waited for a moment before the laptop was sitting back up properly, and just Marco was staring at the camera, bent over to look at Eren better.

“That being said, you two have fun. I’m gonna go hopefully get a job.”

Eren let his playful smirk fall, only to replace it with a genuine smile.  “Good luck, babe.  I’ll be over there tomorrow to help move, so I will see you then.”

Marco grinned back at Eren and nodded. “Thank you.  Love you.  Be good.” He said before standing up. There was muffled speaking as Eren watched the screen, Marco’s legs taking up the entire camera as he leaned over the laptop before walking out of the room.

Jean turned the laptop towards himself, playful grin back on his face.  “Now, where were we?” 

* * *

* * *

 The brownstone stood on the corner of one of the town’s main roads and an alleyway.  The corner end unit belonged to one Historia Reiss (better known by her friends as Krista), bought and paid for by her parents as a gift for her starting at Trost University.  In fact, the Reiss’ owned the building itself, but the corner townhouse was hers, and hers alone.  The building was only a few blocks from the campus, and made for a quick and easy commute in the morning for all those that lived with her.

Marco came running down the stairs after the quick (yet reluctant) escape from his boyfriends to find Ymir, Krista and Reiner sitting around in the living room.   Everyone else was at work, or at school.

“So where is this interview, Marco?” Krista asked as soon as she felt the new presence in the room, large smile plastered on her face. Despite how many people lived in her home, she couldn’t wait for three more to arrive.  She loved having her friends around.  It made her feel safe.

Marco looked up at her after grabbing his shoes from the front closet.  “There is a coffee shop on campus that’s looking for students. And I figure this semester is between my really hectic ones, so I could use some extra cash.”  He explained as he slipped on his shoes.  He stood up once he was done and brushed his clothes off, patting away any of the wrinkles that had been left on his shirt from sitting upstairs.   “Oh, and Eren offered to come and help tomorrow.”

“He better!” Reiner chimed in, turning to look at the brunet at the doorway.  “Bert has to work in the afternoon, so unless we get all the heavy stuff moved before that, Eren’s gonna be doing some heavy lifting.”

“We can lift heavy things too, you know.”  Marco said, crossing his arms and opening his mouth to continue, though he was cut off.

“Honey, Jean’s like a beanpole.” Reiner said with raised eyebrows.

Marco went to counter the verbal attack before sighing, because he knew Reiner was right.

“It’s okay, Marco. We’ve got you covered.” Ymir finally said, turning towards the boy at the door and lifting her arms to flex.  Marco could only roll his eyes before she spoke again, this time turning to Reiner.  “Your boy Berty ain’t all that less beanpole-y though, Rein.  He’s just a giant.”

“The jolly green giant.” Krista mumbled in her spot beside her girlfriend.

“I think he’s more spindly than Jean, actually.” Marco added, cocking his head to the side.

Reiner rolled his eyes and turned back in his seat.  “All the more reason Eren is going to help.”

After a beat, Ymir stood up from the couch and turned towards Marco.  “I actually have to be at work soon, so I’ll walk with you.”

It was a quick farewell as Ymir put her coffee cup in the kitchen and kissed Krista goodbye. After slipping into her shoes and grabbing one of her jackets from the closet, the pair made their way out the door into the late spring afternoon.

“Are you excited for this weekend?” Ymir asked after a while as they walked together down the sidewalk.  The streets were quiet for being the middle of the afternoon. People were still getting through their workdays and had yet to leave to go home.

Marco glanced over to the girl beside him before nodding.  “Yes. Although, I feel as if Krista is a bit more excited.”

Ymir chuckled at that with a nod. “You are right on that. I feel like she’s trying to see how many of us can fit into one apartment.”

“Twelve is a lot of people. Eren said they’ll be bringing a couple extra couches, so one can stay down in the living room, since we’ll need it.”

“Twelve _is_ a lot of people.” Ymir repeated before shrugging. “But, it all works out. Like if we told someone who didn’t know our situation about this twelve people in one place thing, they’d think there was something very wrong.”

Marco nodded. “It’s true.  When you normally hear of that many people in one place, it’s usually a larger house and it’s a family in the middle of nowhere, not twelve friends in a very nice townhouse in the city.”

“For an townhouse it is still quite large.”

“Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Reiss.” The brunet said, clasping his hands in front of him tightly.

“I think it would have been way more difficult if Eren wasn’t with you and Jean, and Armin and Mikasa weren’t with Annie.  Could you imagine? We’d have people camped out in the living room and the dining room because Krista would still say its okay to stay.”

“I think that that point they’d try to find a place of their own.  They were looking before, but nothing was falling into their price range, and Eren was actually almost crying one night because he was scared he’d be living on the streets.  So that’s why Jean and I suggested it.”

Ymir stopped for a moment and laughed. “Sorry, but the thought of Eren crying—”

“Oh my god, I didn’t say anything about him crying.  Don’t tell anyone.”

“Fuck that, I’m telling everyone.”

“Ymir!”

The girl laughed again as she came to a stop in front of her store.  “Okay fine.  I will keep my mouth shut. Anyway, good luck on the interview or whatever.  I’ll see you later.”

They waved at each other as they parted, and Ymir took a turn into the shop.  She was surprised by how quiet it was inside.  The music was down as low as it could go, barely audible over the ceiling fans.  She frowned as she walked through the store, relaxing a bit as she heard the telephone ring, and ring only once as she turned the corner around a display of lubricants to watch the man behind the counter answer.

“Commander Smith’s Emporium.” His low, bored drawl filled the quiet space as he leaned back in his seat and looked at his nails on his free hand.  Ymir watched with amusement as the man rolled his eyes.  “Sorry, sir.  Can I offer you a large, black, double ended dildo instead of a replica gun?” There was a pause as the man cocked his head to the side and sat back up.  “Again, I am sorry sir.  I’m not here to fuck you, but I’m willing to help you get off.”

He hung up soon after the last remark and Ymir could only stand there and slow clap his performance. “That was a good one.” She said before walking around the counter to write on her time card that she’d arrived for the day.  “What were they looking for?”

The man groaned quietly before standing up and stretching.  “Something about a rifle, or something.  I have no idea.  Erwin has got to fix the damn name of this god forsaken store.”

Ymir looked down at the shorter man before nodding in agreement.  “You’re right.  Commander Smith’s Sexporium.”

“Actually, Hanji and I have both answered the phone with that before.  It gets the whole ordeal over with a lot quicker.” 

“Is Hanji in later?” Ymir asked as she watched the man slink between her and the counter and out into the aisles along the back wall.

The store was, in a word, destroyed. It was in shambles, and Ymir could only watch her coworker in amusement as he walked around the cramped space with a look of disgust.

There was drywall dust spread throughout the store, despite the fact that he went through and cleaned every nook and cranny about ten times a day.

The man shook his head as he made his way back to the counter to retrieve the cleaning supplies kept under the register.

“No.  I’ve been here mostly all day alone, aside from the construction workers and Erwin.  The workers have left for the day, I think, but Erwin will be back later.”  He mumbled, pulling out a cloth and the cleaning solution. “I asked him earlier about the renovations and expansions and he estimates another week, and then I will have my own domain.”

“Are you going to rename the new section, ‘Levi’s Closet’?” Ymir asked, sitting on the stool behind the counter after Levi had maneuvered himself back out of the cramped space.

“You know, I considered it.” He said as he sprayed the cloth to start cleaning yet again.  “And I brought it up to Erwin, but he actually said that more people would call confused asking about, who knows, prom dresses?” he scoffed as he shook his head. “More like Levi’s Lingerie Drawer; that would end with less confusion, I think.”

The shop had been undergoing renovations for what felt like years, when in reality it may have only been a couple weeks.  Erwin had struck a deal with the landlord and had taken a lease out on the shop next to the current store in hope of expanding his product space.  And as soon as the lease was signed, the ideas started to swirl in his head and there they all were, waiting for it all to take a physical appearance.

The main store itself was normally quite large, but with the expansion going on next door, Erwin had decided to build the back space up for storage in both units, as far as Ymir and Levi knew.

The store front space next door was quite a bit smaller, but it was the perfect size to set up a specialty shop for lingerie, which was a hot seller in the store already and one of Levi’s favourite things to sell (and wear).

The raven-haired man walked through the cramped aisles with his cloth and continued to clean, before glancing up at the clock over the counter.  He made the last few aisles a quick trip before dashing back behind the counter, nearly knocking Ymir off the stool she had still been perched on.

“Slow down, bud.” She cried, grabbing the counter to keep herself steady.

“Sorry.  I just realized the time.” He mumbled, quickly reaching over her to write on his time card to leave the store.

The girl frowned and glanced at the clock on the register before shaking her head.

“Where do you always have to rush off to at this time on a Thursday?” she asked, raising her eyebrow as she turned back to him.

Levi was busy throwing his black cardigan on over top of his clothes, following it with a brown messenger bag. He shook his head as he slinked back around the counter towards the door.

“Nothing for you to be concerned about!” he called out before leaving the store.

Levi was running late. It was very rare for him to run late, and he blamed it all on Erwin and his mess of a store.  He didn’t bother to check the time again on his phone before walking as fast as he could up the street toward his apartment, in the direction opposite the brownstone.

He was huffing and puffing by the time he got to the lobby, groaning internally at the fact that he hadn’t even had a chance to pull out a cigarette.   He figured if he got himself ready quick enough, it would be his reward for the night.

Levi made his way upstairs, taking the stairs of the four story apartment two at a time, as the elevator was broken for the seventh week in a row.  Even if the elevator had been fixed, he was sure he wouldn’t trust it enough to step inside.

He made his way into his apartment on the fourth floor only a few moments later, threw off his bag and cardigan, and dashed into his room to throw open his closet doors. He bit his lip as he looked over his options and pulled out an ensemble that included a pair of his tightest black pants, alongside a black button up shirt with the slightest sparkle. He was in a rush, and felt like going the most basic route.

After laying the clothes out on his bed, he rushed into the bathroom to throw himself through the shower, to rid his body of any of the construction dust that may have followed him home. It wasn’t long before he was back out and toweling himself off in the middle of his bedroom.

He tossed the damp towel over the side of his hamper before rummaging through one of his drawers, pulling out a pair of black silky briefs, which had been sitting on top of a pair of black leather shorts.  He raised his eyebrow for a moment and took both articles of clothing back to the bed. He set the shorts down before pulling the briefs up his legs, and then stepped into the pants he had pulled out before.  The shirt soon followed, and he was quick the take the pair of shorts he’d found to his bag.

He decided he’d change later after all.

Levi headed back into his room to continue getting ready.  He dried and combed his hair, and put on the slightest bit of makeup to accentuate his facial features, along with a hint of red lip-gloss, giving his lips the shine they needed.

He smirked at his reflection only briefly before turning away from the mirror.  He looked at the clock once more and sighed in relief that he had gotten himself back on schedule.  Knowing that, however, he didn’t slow down getting ready.  He moved around his apartment fluidly, as everything was organized and exactly in the right place.  After slipping on a jacket, he threw a new pack of cigarettes and a new lighter into his bag before throwing it over his shoulder.  He did a once over of the apartment before stepping out of the door and locking up.

Levi’s second job was one that not many knew about.  And the fact that no one knew about itmade it all that more exciting to go to a couple nights a week.   He knew Reiner through Ymir and Bertholdt, and swore him to secrecy the first time he noticed him working the door. He’d held his tongue so far, as far as Levi was aware.

Levi walked down the street and walked in the complete opposite direction of the Emporium. The streets were busier now that work was done for the day for most people, and there were crowds walking up and down the sidewalks.  Levi kept to himself and hurriedly weaved through the people until he arrived at the alleyway that would take him to the back doors of the club.

He knocked on the large red door twice before it opened immediately. 

“Hey, Levi.”

“Hey, Hannes.” The smaller man mumbled before slipping into the building.  There was already people hustling and bustling around, and before Levi could make it to the change room, he was nearly plastered against the wall by an amplifier. “Watch where you’re going!” he called out before heading towards his destination.

Levi walked into the change room a few moments later to sighs of relief.  He glanced around the room and frowned, seeing Mike sitting on one of the couches looking like he had gotten off the hook on death row.

“What?”  Levi asked, moving to drop his bag on one of the tables that sat against the wall of the small room. 

“We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last two hours!  The schedule has been bumped up for the night and we start in like twenty minutes.” The other occupant of the room, Nanaba, explained.

Levi continued frowning between the two before opening his bag.  He pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips and lit it before reaching for his phone.  He shook his head before throwing it back into his bag. 

“Battery died, sorry.”

“Levi!  You have a charger for a reason.  Use it!”  Nanaba cried, completely defeated as they fell to the side to lean on Mike, who had finally lifted his head.

“Sorry, guys. I got here as soon as I could, I was already running a bit late anyway.”  Levi explained with a shrug, flicking his ashes into a can on the table that had been specifically left for his cigarettes. “I couldn’t leave the store with how much the dust piled up in such a short amount of time…”

“Of course.” Nanaba drawled, wrapping their arm around Mike’s neck as they eyed Levi.  “But get ready.  Kenny’s been on the ball so far this evening; everything is running on schedule for a change.”

Levi took one last drag from his cigarette and put it out before slipping it through the mouth of the can. He nodded as he opened his bag to grab the shorts he had packed.  He shrugged off his jacket and threw it over his belongings on the table before quickly moving behind a folding wall that had been brought in soon after Levi and his friends had started performing at the club.

“Ten minutes, guys!” a voice called from the hallway as Levi stripped out of his jeans before pulling on the shorts.  They were snug in all the right places as he shifted his hips back and forth.

Levi walked back out into the main part of the change room and frowned before shaking his head. “You two are so boring.”

“What?” Mike asked, frowning back at the smaller man before turning to Nanaba, who had a look of offense on their face.  “Did he just call us boring?”

“He totally just called us boring.” Nanaba replied, crossing their arms across their chest.

“Well you always make me feel so underdressed.  Or overdressed.”

“You’re definitely underdressed, Levi.” Mike reassured the man as he looked down at his own choice of clothing; a pair of black dress pants and a white button up, giving him the look he had just come from work – which he had.

“But people come to see you, you know. They don’t come to see the back up musicians.”  Nanaba added, sitting up on the couch.  They had settled for a grey tank top with a black pair of skinny jeans, much like the ones Levi had been wearing prior to changing.

Levi couldn’t do anything but roll his eyes as another person ran down the hall shouting, “Five more minutes!” into their room.

The two on the couch finally got to their feet and stretched their arms above their heads

“So why are we going on so early, anyway?”  Levi finally asked as the three of them moved towards the door.

“Kenny mentioned something about a band from out of town playing, but they wouldn’t be getting here until later otherwise they’d be playing now instead of us.  Honestly, with knowing that, I’m surprised it’s running as smoothly as it is today.  I haven’t heard anyone screaming at each other yet.”

Levi nodded as he listened to Mike explain the details before shrugging.  “Give it time.  It will happen.”

“Oh, and Petra wants to see you at the bar after we are done.”  Nanaba chimed in.  “You actually just missed her when you arrived.”

Levi nodded, putting the information to the side as they walked down the hall towards the backstage area where Mike and Nanaba’s instruments were.  There were a few other bodies milling about as the performers on the stage finished up their set, getting things ready for a quick change over so the people in the club didn’t have a long wait time.

The club itself was never all that busy early in the evening, but by the end of the night it was one of the more fun places to be.  Levi was honestly surprised he hadn’t been found on stage yet.

Levi turned away from the stage once the performance was over and found Nanaba ready to go with their keyboard sitting beside them, and Mike twirling his drumsticks in his fingers. As the people rushed off stage, the three of them jumped up onto the stage.  The lights flooded the area, and it was hard to see if there was even a crowd in front of them.  Levi helped Nanaba get their keyboard on the stand as Mike got behind the drums and tinkered with each of the pads.  The bright side to playing a small club as a small cover band was that your set up didn’t take long, as the instruments belonged to the club itself.

Levi kept his back to the audience as he waited for the two to give the signal, and once they were ready he turned around to the microphone, reaching up to hold it with both hands as the music behind him started.  And then he sang.


	2. Krista

  _Three years earlier…_

The Reiss family owned multiple buildings throughout the city.  Historia’s mother mostly sat behind the scenes as a building manager for the apartments and complexes of townhomes, while her father took charge with the buildings in the business district.  They were a great team when it came to keeping up with everything, calling the right people when things needed to be done, and collecting rent and any other money on time. They’d been lucky with their tenants thus far all across the spectrum.

While she was still in high school, Krista lived with her parents in a large house on the edge of the city. She was driven to school in the morning, while her girlfriend generally dropped her off at night. She was content with the fact that her life ran smoothly, and things more or less just fell into her lap as she needed them, though there was always a part of her that wanted to break out of the cycle, and to do something for herself.

Krista graduated high school with flying colours.  She was beaming as she received her report card, and as she stood on the stage during their graduation ceremony as valedictorian, she continued to do so.  She spoke about leading a great life and taking charge, only because she knew that is what everyone in the audience wanted to hear from the valedictorian.

That night, Krista went home with her parents, her cap and gown still covering her as she was handed a small box.  She looked between her parents and frowned before eyeing the box.  It looked as though it would have contained a ring, but Ymir had bought her the grad ring as a gift earlier that year.  Puzzled, she slowly lifted the lid to find a key.

“What’s this?” She asked, pulling the key from the box and holding it up.  “You didn’t get me a car, did you?”

Her parents glanced at each other momentarily before looking back at their daughter. “No, we know how you feel about driving…” her father started, before her mother could pick up.

“Well, since you have been accepted to start at Trost in September…”

“And we know that your _friend_ Ymir has also been accepted there.”

Krista flinched at their words, but they didn’t seem to notice.

Her mother grinned widely and put her hands on both of her Krista’s shoulders.  “You have your own home.  There is a lot of space, so if you want a couple friends to join you…”

It took Krista a few moments to realize what she had said before her eyes grew double in size. “Wait, what?  My own home?  Mom, I don’t even have a job!”

“What’s your point?” her dad asked with a playful lilt, as he walked towards the kitchen leaving Krista and her mother standing in the living room, somewhat confused.  He rejoined them only a beat later with a stack of paper in his hands. He looked over it once before turning it to show Krista.  “This building, which is only a stones throw away from campus, is our building. We own this part.” He circled with his finger the four units on one end.  “And you, my darling daughter, own this unit.”  He circled the final corner unit with his finger.

“But rent!  I can’t—“

“Honey, I don’t think she’s getting it.” Her mother sighed, dropping her head.

“It has been a long day after all.”

Krista rubbed her eyes, getting frustrated with how confused she was.  She was top of her class and this was just ridiculous.

“Please just spell it out for me.” She finally groaned, pulling the graduation cap off of her head.

“This corner unit is yours, under your name, bought and paid for in full.”  Her mother said.

“These townhouses are bought, not rented.   Utilities will be included, but if you want anything else, that will be strictly up to you.” Her father tacked on. “Well, the unit’s we own will be leased out, of course, but…”

It was then Krista really got a look of the paper in front of her.  The building was large, just from what she could see in the drawing. She took the sheets from her dad, eyes nearly bugging out again.

“What am I going to do with all this space?”  she cried, looking at the paper and then to her parents once more.

“As we said before, feel free to have a couple friends fill the space.  There were, how many bedooms, dear?”  Her father asked, turning to her mother.

“There are—“

“Five bedrooms.” Krista mumbled, finally going over the townhouse’s specifics.  “Four and a half baths. I really appreciate it but this is insane.  No one gets a house for a graduation gift.”

“Well you didn’t want a car…” Her mother started.

“And we were already going to pay your tuition, so that doesn’t count.” Her father added.

“If you really don’t want it—“

“No!  No, I do.  I just…” Krista was honestly at a loss for words. Her parents remained silent as she looked over the words still in front of her, barely registering any of it. “Thank you.”

“We can go over there some time this weekend so you can see it properly.  You have all summer to fix it up however you want, it’s all yours.” Her mother said before Krista left both parents behind to head to her bedroom on the second floor of their house.

Upon entering her room, she ripped her cellphone from her purse, which was still slung over her shoulder, and called Ymir.

“ _Miss me already?  You’ve only just left!_ ” the girl on the other end of the phone laughed, and Krista could hear some of her classmates in the background.  Some of the graduating class had planned to go out after the ceremony, but Krista had declined the offer, wanting to get a good amount of sleep before the following night’s prom.

“Ymir!”  the blonde said into the phone as she fell back onto her bed, still in her gown; the cap long forgotten in the living room.

“ _What? What’s wrong?_ ”

Krista closed her eyes for a moment, her brain still reeling with everything that had happened in a rather short amount of time.  She was barely eighteen and a homeowner – the whole thing was just absurd.  She took a shaky breath before speaking.

“Did you ever find a place on campus to live?”

Ymir made a sound of confusion before speaking up.  “ _Why are you asking that all of a sudden? You didn’t get accepted out of town did you?_ ”

“Wait, what? No!  No, but were you moving into the campus dorms or—”

“ _Hang on a second._ ” There was a brief pause and Krista could hear the noise in the background become more and more faint.  “ _Okay, what’s going on? What’s got you asking such random questions at this time of night?  It’s only ten, and you’re not drunk._ ”

Krista lifted the papers up above her to start reading.  “Number one, seven hundred Trost Avenue.  Five bedrooms, four and a half baths.  Living room, dining area, large kitchen with a bar.”

“ _Krista what are you talking about?_ ”

“My parents gave me my graduation present as soon as we walked in the door tonight.”

“ _They found you an apartment?   But you don’t have a job…_ ”

“You know, that is exactly what I said.  But apparently I don’t have to worry about that.  But Ymir, you never answered my question.”

There was another pause as Krista could hear a vehicle drive by in the background.

“ _I haven’t applied for the dorms yet, no.  And I haven’t actually started looking for apartments on my own yet._ ”

“Perfect.  So you’ll move in with me, right?  Five bedrooms will be a lot to have when I’m all alone, and my parents said I could have friends move in with me.  And, hey, rent’s cheap.”

 

 

The townhouse was large, as Krista had learned that following weekend after prom.  Her parents had taken her to see it, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold, she was in love with it.  There was a small foyer as soon as she walked into the house, and a large closet right beside the door.   The first floor of the townhouse had a very open concept.   There was a living room with a large bay window looking out onto the main street, with lots of space for furniture and a mounted television on the wall. 

Just past the living room was the dining room area, which opened right into the kitchen.  Krista was beaming as she rushed into the large kitchen to do a lap around the island and breakfast bar that served as a wall between the kitchen and dining room.

“I am in love!” she cried as she continued to move around the first floor, peering out the back sliding glass door to see the large deck, with a rather small yard a few steps down.  They were fenced in well for extra privacy.

After taking in the sights of the first floor, and taking note of the small half bath under the stairs, which she had thought was another closet at first glance; she made her way to the second floor.

The second floor had three bedrooms and two full en suites.  Krista peered into each of the bedrooms, grinning at the bay window in the front bedroom. The en suite in the front bedroom had a large bathtub, which made up for its otherwise small size. After leaving the room, she poked her head into the middle room.  It was rather basic as far as bedrooms go.  The closet was quite large, but otherwise it was just a box. The third bedroom was the second en suite with a shower stall, and quite a bit larger than the middle bedroom.

Content with the second floor, she made her way to the third and final floor.  There were two large bedrooms that took up the space on the top floor. Both bedrooms had enough room to put in a small reading area, or a desk and chair.  They both had attached bathrooms with large tubs, and the front room had another large bay window.  She was mentally calling dibs on the bay window room.

 

 

Krista moved in during the summer after a small paint job had been done.  The townhouse was in good condition, but the colours didn’t suit her. It was no issue for her parent’s contractors to get done quickly, and before she knew it, her things were moved in and she was settled.

And when Ymir moved the week following, everything was slowly falling into place.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Present Day…_

Krista grinned as she watched Marco and Ymir walk out the door before turning to Reiner, who was sitting on an armchair in the living room with her.

“What are your plans for the day, Reiner?  Did you want to make dinner with me tonight?”  she asked. She always had fun cooking with Reiner, especially when there would be people home to eat.

But the blond on the armchair slowly shook his head.  “I actually have to leave for work pretty quick.  There’s an out of town band playing tonight, so while I usually have Thursday nights off, Kenny wanted some extra muscle just in case.”

Krista nodded and smiled brighter. “That sounds like it will be fun though. You don’t usually get out of town bands, do you?”

“Not ones with actual fans. We serve the public with local talent. It’s mostly open mic nights over anything else, you know.  One or two of the same bands generally come every other night, and Kenny’s actually started to pay one of them because he likes them so much.”

“I hope it goes well tonight!”

Reiner shifted in his chair before getting to his feet, stretching his arms above his head. “Oh it will be. We can cook breakfast for everyone on Sunday morning, since we’ll have three new roommates.  How about it?”

Krista clapped her hands together and nodded.  “Yes! Yes, I will do some groceries tomorrow after the rooms have been switched!”

Reiner grinned at her before nodding and making his way upstairs, all while Krista mentally prepared a breakfast menu for Sunday.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you think ^___^
> 
> [tumblr!](http://tscwrites.tumblr.com) (i am currently accepting prompts for the twelve days of christmas 2015!)


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